Meta has introduced a broad new range of AI-powered wearables, including camera-free smart glasses that rely solely on audio, as scrutiny intensifies over privacy breaches and the unauthorised recording of women and girls.
Mark Zuckerberg unveiled the products at Meta’s annual conference at the company’s Menlo Park headquarters, where the chief executive also presented Muse, a new personal artificial intelligence assistant.
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“There are almost 2 billion people in the world who wear glasses today… and we think that in the coming years, most of these are going to get upgraded to AI glasses,” Mr Zuckerberg told an audience of developers and executives.
Muse, he said, would be “the centrepiece of our vision”.
The announcement comes as privacy concerns grow around miniature cameras built into glasses and other wearable devices, with critics derisively referring to some products as “pervert glasses”.
The Meta Muse app became the top free app in the Google Play Store and Apple App Store
Smart glasses can capture photographs and video, play music, make calls, translate text and connect users with an AI assistant.
The audio-only models will be released alongside dozens of new smart glasses that retain the ability to record photographs and videos.
Meta vice-president of AI product Vishal Shah said privacy safeguards, including a visible recording indicator, were “really important”.
“We wanted people to clearly understand that this was something that was recording, and we’ve only made that light more explicit over time,” he said.
“We said a lot about that when the glasses first launched, and I think we probably need to keep repeating that more than we have been more recently because none of that’s changed.”
With almost four billion monthly active users across its services, Meta is hoping wearables such as smart glasses will give people a seamless way into its AI ecosystem.
The company launched its first smart glasses in 2021, followed last year by “display” glasses capable of projecting images onto the lenses.
Earlier this year, Meta introduced AI glasses carrying its own brand, distinct from its partnership with eyewear manufacturer EssilorLuxottica, which makes a range of Ray-Ban and Oakley Meta models.
Meta also revealed several new designs for its flagship Meta Ray-Ban glasses.
The display model, with prices starting at $799 (€702), is due to reach additional markets soon, including the UK, France, Italy, Germany and Canada.
The company also plans to launch mixed reality glasses that are substantially lighter than its earlier Quest virtual reality headsets.
Known as Meta VR Glasses, the devices use an external battery and memory pack connected by a cable, reducing the weight of the headset itself.
Mr Zuckerberg said they weigh roughly as much as a deck of cards.
Instead of physical controls, the glasses respond to hand gestures and voice commands.
The VR Glasses are scheduled to launch in spring 2027 at a price of $1,299 (€1,141).
Meta Muse
Meta has invested billions of dollars to remain competitive in artificial intelligence, even as it confronts resistance and regulatory pressure on several fronts.
The glasses are built to work with Muse, the company’s first consumer-facing agentic app, which is designed to complete tasks on behalf of its users like a digital personal assistant.
Once users connect personal accounts for areas such as finance, healthcare and shopping, they can ask Muse to enrol them in services, arrange appointments and place calls.
The Muse app climbed to the top of the free rankings on both the Google Play Store and Apple App Store, surpassing OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Anthropic’s Claude and Google’s Gemini.
Mr Zuckerberg also previewed the Muse Charm, a product Meta plans to release before the end of this year, although the company has not disclosed its price.
The small, puck-shaped device includes a display and will let users communicate with their Muse agent without reaching for a smartphone.
Amazon has prevented Meta from using AI bots to make automatic purchases on behalf of users, while Instacart, Shopify and Expedia have announced partnerships to connect their services with Muse.
Meta said US companies including Walmart, Best Buy, Gap and Sephora are also working with the app.
Meta generates most of its revenue from advertising on Instagram and Facebook, but it is facing increasing challenges over child safety and privacy around the world.
In August, the company settled a lawsuit filed by US states that accused it of breaching consumer protection and children’s online privacy laws. The agreement requires Meta to pay up to $18 billion and introduce restrictions affecting teenagers.
The company is also confronting age-related restrictions and bans outside the United States, along with thousands of possible personal injury lawsuits in the US.
